Amul: man, its almost over...

Radhe Syam Radhe Syam,

 

i am here at HG BhutaBhavana prabhu's place, he and Dilraj prabhu have kindly let me stay.  Went to the manor yesterday for sunday program, was very nice saw many old friends.  Before yesterday i went to two jammins, the famous Harrow Jamming and then Souf (South) London jamming.  They were both amazing preaching programs.  Amit prabhu from south london let me stay at his house and took me all those places.

  This bramhachari Jaya Nitai prabhu, who is the vice prez of Soho temple, he gave the harrow jamming class. He reminds me so much of one of our old temple presidents in Towaco.  Jaya Nitai prabhu is originally from USA but he joined in the UK and lives there!  He knows VBD and Krsangi and thats why he took a liking to me.  Im telling you, i can get attention from all the senior devotees solely because i am related to them!  Just like in the Ramayana, Vibhishana was pure and Lord Rama accepted him, but Vibhishana's 4 servants who came with him were not pure, but solely because they were with Vibhishana, Lord Rama accepted them too.  amazing.

 

So the next three days are going to be chill.  I am hanging out with Raj and Shujon all day today, and then going to the manor again for another program. Then Tuesday im going to meet Govinda prabhu and Gauranga prabhu where they are staying, yes, its THE Govinda prabhu and Gauranga prabhus.  Cant wait for that, i miss Chowpatty so much.  Then wednesday go back to Chai's aunts and chill until we leave thursday. 

 

Devotees are so hospitable around here, its amazing.  I strive to be like them.

 

a.s.

 

 

amul: london

im here at amit prabhu's house, him and sandeep took this video when they last came to america. its at chai's house, quite entertaining...

Pictures Coming....

 

Here in london..with flying internet, I will try to upload as many pics as possible..haribol..

Chaitanya 

amul: i lost my heart in chowpatty and thanks

wow! chowpatty is the most wondeful place! so many nice devotees, there are so many, i am so angry i cant spend more time here to know each one of them. anyways, i am doing well. my cell phone has run out of credit and im not going to recharge it because im leaving india in 8 days, so theres no use. Chai came to visit today, i hadnt seen him in a few weeks, it was nice to catch up again.
not much more to say, you have to come here to experience chowpatty for yourself. everything everyone says in praise of this place is true. The prasadam is spicy, but the devotees are really sweet.

i guess this is going to be one of my last posts. I cant believe this trip is almost over. It was like yesterday when i brought the idea of coming to india to chai and damodar in the kitchen while washing pots in towaco. 5 months later, im sitting here talking about finishing the trip!

Krsna, Radharani, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, and Srila Prabhupada have really been really merciful on me these past few months. Ive experienced some really far out, unexplainable things and met some devotees that just remind you of Krsna if you are just in their vicinity.

I think i've changed alot as well. My priorities have changed, my mindset has changed. I feel more focused and i feel like i am ready to take on the rest of my life with faith that whatever path i choose it will be perfect because it will be centered around Krsna.

Thanks for all the readers for your support, i always looked forward to reading your comments. I cant wait to see you all and talk to you in person about the many things i left out of this blog, hehe.

Also thanks to my parents, whom i appreicate even more, for giving me Krsna consciousness and letting me come on this trip (and financing it, lol). And Krsangi, my best friend and sister who support would help me when i was feeling down or lonely. Also VBD, my brilliant other best friend and brother in law, who helped me out on my chowpatty trip and sent me inspiring cards and gifts. and how can i forget Damodar, another best friend, who came to vrindavan with me and even though could not join me for the rest of the trip, kept pushing me and inspiring me to keep going. and last but not least, Chai, who i've got to know pretty well on this trip, who tolerated my chastisement and criticism with a very cool head. there are so many others, i know who you are and so do you. also thanks to those who kept in touch, it meant alot to me.


a.s.

Amul: Chowpatty

After a long trainride from A-bad i finally reached Mumbai central. I didnt know how i was going to get to the temple, but i thought i would just take a taxi. As i struggled to get my two huge bags out of the train, i saw him. A devotee!!! he had come to pick me up by the order of HG Gauranga prabhu. I was so happy and relieved.
We got to the temple around 11 pm and they gave me a room, a really nice one. It was next to Srutakirti prabhu, i could hear him sometimes. It felt awkward to have such a nice room next to a really senior devotee, but i wasnt complaining.
I got up late the next day and just made it for darsan arati. Funny thing was i didnt know the temple room was on the 2nd floor. So i was looking for a while and then finally got the courage to ask someone, they said it was upstairs. duh! Darsan arati was beautiful, the dieites came to life, because i had only seen them in picture before. I saw Gauranga prabhu and so many bramhacharis. Thats what struck me, so many bramhacharis. So many devotees! That is real opulence a temple has. Devotees.

let me just say that his magesty Vyenkata Bhatta das is like the most popular american around here. If i'm talking to a devotee, and i wanna really spur a conversation, i say (ive used this many times already). "so..yea my brother in law was here before, do you know him? his name is Vyenkata Bhatta das." The devotee who im talking to, his face would light up like a light bulb, ::indian accent:: "vat?! you are vyenkata prabhus brother in law, wow!!! hes a great devotee, awesome, funny , blah blah blah south indian yatra blah blah." HAHAHAHAH.... Vbd if your reading this...i got the "in" yo, cuz of you!

so anyways, i went to a preaching program at IIT with Gauranga prabhu the 2nd night i was here. I played mrdanga for him, it was really awesome. Gauranga prabhu is really looking after me and making sure im doing okay. IIT is where all the brainiacs are from, mad smart people. He gave a really nice lecture about Srila Prabhupada and something else that i cant remember. Then we had arati and prasadam.

oh i almost forgot, HG Bhavananda prabhu was here, and he gave SB class yesterday morning. Hes really funny and tells awesome Prabhupada stories. He left today.

Srutakiriti prabhu gave SB class this morning, it was amazing. He told the most sweet stories of his pastimes with Srila Prabhupada...man it was so nice.

I moved out of my luxury room today, into the ashram. There are so guys here from psena london, chirag and a few others. The ashram is nice, i am getting to know more devotees.

So i am just trying to soak up some good association and improve my sadhana. This is definately the best place to do it.

i am def. not going to travel in india alone again. Its really boring and lonely. well, now i know so i wont make that mistake again.

Sometimes when im idle, i miss home more than ever. Im on the home stretch, the last month. I am so eager to meet my friends and family again. But i have to hold on, im almost there! i dont wanna ruin my last month here. focus amul focus!

anyways, im out, thats whats up on my side...

jay sri radhe - never forget

a.s.

On to Mayapur

11/11/06

Haribol,

After a great Kshetra Parikrama, attended by over 2000 devotees, we were on to Mayapur, which is where I am currently enjoying the fastest internet I have yet to experience since being in India. It almost feels as fast as home. Otherwise, Mayapur is very nice, and I really can't think of much else to write now.

Chaitanya

amul: gujurat

the day i left for gujurat i found out my train ticket wasnt confirmed, it was a waiting list ticket.  i totally freaked out and didnt know if i was going to get a seat.  but i did.  so here i am in gujurat having major vrindavan withdrawals.  today all i did was eat and engage in small talk with my relatives.  I miss vrindavan so much. 

they took me to the iskcon temple, it was nice until a this devotee told me to come to his room so he could give me prasad but his real goal was to try to get me to ask my temple president if he could come to america.   was pretty lame.

the outside world looks even more miserable then before.



Srimati Radharani! when will you let me come back?

a.s.

Jagganath Puri....

11/8/06

As I'm sitting here in an internet cafe in Jagganath Puri, I'm thinking that our blog name...Vrindavan Days 2006 is inappropriate, as I am here in Puri, and Amul is currently in Gujurat, and neither of us will be returning to Vrindavan. For those of you who do not know, Kshetra Parikrama is happening in Puri right now, and there is thousands of devotees here. I'll just give you a quick list of the high points of my trip here in Puri so far (I arrived yesterday...)

• I was questioned if I was Hindu...Yes I also thought that only happened in America, but the panda in front of the Jagganath temple made that clear that it could happen anywhere. I did eventually get a wonderful Darshan of Jagganath, going right up to their lordships lotus feet, along with Vrindavan Candra Prabhu.
• Someone stepped in my kichri this morning...no I'm not complaining....but its a testament to how many people there is here. How many people can really say that someone has stepped in there kichri.
• Took a wonderful ocean bath...the beach here rocks...much better than the Jersey shore....

That's it from me, as yatra continues in the morning. But today, I am fortunate enough to have Rupanuga Prabhu sitting right next to me as well (yes...everyone is really here...there's thousands ....). Rupanuga says: "Haribol, as long I am in the Presence of Chaitanya and Amul, and Samikrsi Prabhu and Vrindavan Candra Prabhu, I have not time to miss anyone. However I feel after I lose their company, I will let you know."

So that's it for now, and I probably will not get to check the blog until my arrival in Mayapur, so Haribol from Jagganath Puri. Jai Jagganath.

Chaitanya and Rupanuga Das

amul: back and ready for more

dear friends!

im back.

 

words cannot explain how much fun i had.  Pandavasena has to have a trip in the vraj mandal parikrama. Its alittle austere and alot of walking (avg. 20 km per day!) but its sooooo much fun.  it was def. the best decision i made on this trip after VIHE. 

 

we finished today with a huge feast.  it was amazing.

 

now im off to gujurat tommorow and then the chow. 

 

the next chapter begins.

 

a.s.

 

ps. my cell fone is still on !

Prabhupada's Disappearance...and then Jaipur

10/29/06

After a very nice Prabhupada's disappearance day festival here in
Vrindavan, and the craziness that went along with it, I was off to
Jaipur for a few days for Darshan of Srila Rupa Goswami's respectable
deity, Govindaji. There are a few things here in India that have lived
up to what I had heard about them before experiencing them. One which
comes to mind immediately is Bahulastami at Radha-Kund, which is
everything someone could possibly expect, and on top of that more....its
really crazy. The other thing is The Govindaji temple in Jaipur. Before
going there, I had heard about the love of Govindaji by the people of
Jaipur, and how thousands of people go there daily, but until you are in
mangal aroti there, you cannot fully appreciate how amazing it is.
Thousands of people go to mangal aroti, and are singing in different
groups to Govindaji from their hearts.....its really quite a site to
see. I was fortunate enough to have two more darshans of Govindaji
before leaving Jaipur, both of them were at 8:30 in the morning, and
both were crazy as well. When you do parikrama around Govindaji, any
item on the wall is a sanctified object for the people there (locks,
paintspecks, marble, scratches..you name it...). Finally, people are
handing out mahaprasad right and left after acquiring it. It is
impossible to leave the temple without some sort of prasad, chandan, or
oil smeared on your forehead (that happened to several of us). In
Jaipur, we also visited Radha Damodar, Radha Vinod (Deities which were
worshipped by Lokanath Goswami), and Gopinath (found by Madhu Pandit).
I'll try and get pics up asap...haribol..

Chaitanya

Amul: short update

amul here,

vraj mandal parikrama is very nice, im here back in krishna balaram for a day for Prabhupada's dissapearance festival.  Alot of senior devotees here.  I saw Yagna purusa prabhu from NYC from far away, that was a nice suprise.

 

Vraj mandal is alot of fun, we are walking every morning after mangala arati then when we reach our destination we camp out and have the regular day programs, lectures, etc.  Some sannyasi's come to visit each day.  Its pretty austere but i have gotten used to it.  Rupanuga is here too.

 

Just 10 more days and then im off to Gujurat and then Bombay. 

 

haribol

radhe radhe

amul

Govardhan Pooja

10/22/06

Feeling that I had experienced a good amount of festivals at KB temple, I decided to head out on the road for Govardhan pooja. Where else to go than Govardhan, and that is where we did go...I went to the Bhaktivedanta Ashraam in Govardhan, right across the road from Govardhan Hill. They had a really nice program there, starting with a nice class, then go-pooja (H.H. Jayadvaita Swami performed aroti to mother cow), and everyone was able to feed mother cow. Then, everyone headed across the road, and performed abhiseka right on Govardhan hill. It was a pretty cool thinking that I was actually at Govardhan for Govardhan pooja. After that, everyone helped carry the 56 sumptous offerings for Giriraja across the road, and tapan bhoga was offered. Then it was time to eat...not yet though as I was asked to serve.... I didn't really mind, as it was still early, and for about an hour or more, We served out prashadam to the hundreds of devotees there (there didn't seem to be that many there before, but its funny how you always notice more at prashadam time...). Then I along with some friends sat down to eat, and our plates were piled up with item after item after item, after item......When I was full the prabhu next to me, his name is Govinda Kund, got one of the servers to put a big handful of more maha from Giriraja on my plate. What could I do but honor it??? So I ended up being double stuffed. After washing our hands, I and two other friends who came with me noticed that nobody from our group seemed to be around. As we walked outside, I looked to the right, and saw three green buses (the ones we came in) heading up the road. We ended up sprinting to them...if you know Govardhan, we ran from ISKCON...all the way to the town, where we caught the buses due to the traffic resulting from the business of Govardhan pooja. Its quite an experience sprinting after eating that much....That's all I can say about that.
This evening, Aindra prabhu sang Damodarastaka, and it was a classic. (I got it all on tape) Damodarastaka in KB temple starts at 7, and usually goes until 8:15 (when the temple closes). Some singers, will take it to 8:30 (at which point the devotees cleaning the temple start the hoses and start spraying people). Aindra prabhu takes it outside in front of the temple, and goes for another 30-40 minutes, moving around the samadhi, and other areas, so it was a very crazy event. As I was walking back to my room at Keshav Kunj, In noticed the fireworks still going off. Then one went off 5 feet from me (it sounded like a bomb). The fireworks tonight don't seem as frequent (although I am hearing more and more...), but now they seem to go off with huge bangs....by the way, I did hear them when I got up at 3:30, and on my way to mangal aroti this morning....
Overall it was a fantastic Govardhan pooja here in Vrindavan. Amul left his camera behind, so I took some pictures, which I can hopefully get posted for you.....Haribol...


Chaitanya

Diwali....

10/21/06

So today was Diwali in India, and I'll just give you a few basic things
which seemed pretty cool to me. Diwali started off as a completely
normal day, but you noticed that all the shopkeepers were decorating and
everyone was in a festive joyous mood. Then at around 10:30 or 11:00, I
was in the temple room, and it seemed completely normal. As I was
walking out towards the front gate, I noticed that they had opened the
two big middle gates here at KB temple (the only time I saw them do that
before was to allow the ambulance to come in...), and then a constant
flood of hundreds of people were just flowing in for about half an hour,
and then it became normal again. Then, at night, I woke up from a nap at
around 6:00, and I heard fireworks starting, because it had only just
gotten dark. Since then, all I have heard is fireworks, all night long.
When I walked out on the street, I had one explode 5 or 10 feet from me,
and I am sitting here at 10 PM, and the fireworks keep on going and
going and going and going. I'm assuming I'll here some at mangala
aroti.... This is definitely the place to be for firework lovers (yes
nimai.....it really is). Alright, I will now go to sleep, as tommorrow
is Govardhan pooja, and I will be going to Govardhan. Haribol.

Chaitanya

Govardhan Pooja

10/22/06

Feeling that I had experienced a good amount of festivals at KB temple,
I decided to head out on the road for Govardhan pooja. Where else to go
than Govardhan, and that is where we did go...I went to the
Bhaktivedanta Ashraam in Govardhan, right across the road from Govardhan
Hill. They had a really nice program there, starting with a nice class,
then go-pooja (H.H. Jayadvaita Swami performed aroti to mother cow), and
everyone was able to feed mother cow. Then, everyone headed across the
road, and performed abhiseka right on Govardhan hill. It was a pretty
cool thinking that I was actually at Govardhan for Govardhan pooja.
After that, everyone helped carry the 56 sumptous offerings for Giriraja
across the road, and tapan bhoga was offered. Then it was time to
eat...not yet though as I was asked to serve.... I didn't really mind,
as it was still early, and for about an hour or more, We served out
prashadam to the hundreds of devotees there (there didn't seem to be
that many there before, but its funny how you always notice more at
prashadam time...). Then I along with some friends sat down to eat, and
our plates were piled up with item after item after item, after
item......When I was full the prabhu next to me, his name is Govinda
Kund, got one of the servers to put a big handful of more maha from
Giriraja on my plate. What could I do but honor it??? So I ended up
being double stuffed. After washing our hands, I and two other friends
who came with me noticed that nobody from our group seemed to be around.
As we walked outside, I looked to the right, and saw three green buses
(the ones we came in) heading up the road. We ended up sprinting to
them...if you know Govardhan, we ran from ISKCON...all the way to the
town, where we caught the buses due to the traffic resulting from the
business of Govardhan pooja. Its quite an experience sprinting after
eating that much....That's all I can say about that.
This evening, Aindra prabhu sang Damodarastaka, and it was a
classic. (I got it all on tape) Damodarastaka in KB temple starts at 7,
and usually goes until 8:15 (when the temple closes). Some singers, will
take it to 8:30 (at which point the devotees cleaning the temple start
the hoses and start spraying people). Aindra prabhu takes it outside in
front of the temple, and goes for another 30-40 minutes, moving around
the samadhi, and other areas, so it was a very crazy event. As I was
walking back to my room at Keshav Kunj, In noticed the fireworks still
going off. Then one went off 5 feet from me (it sounded like a bomb).
The fireworks tonight don't seem as frequent (although I am hearing more
and more...), but now they seem to go off with huge bangs....by the way,
I did hear them when I got up at 3:30, and on my way to mangal aroti
this morning....
Overall it was a fantastic Govardhan pooja here in Vrindavan. Amul
left his camera behind, so I took some pictures, which I can hopefully
get posted for you.....Haribol...

Chaitanya

Diwali....

10/21/06

So today was Diwali in India, and I'll just give you a few basic things which seemed pretty cool to me. Diwali started off as a completely normal day, but you noticed that all the shopkeepers were decorating and everyone was in a festive joyous mood. Then at around 10:30 or 11:00, I was in the temple room, and it seemed completely normal. As I was walking out towards the front gate, I noticed that they had opened the two big middle gates here at KB temple (the only time I saw them do that before was to allow the ambulance to come in...), and then a constant flood of hundreds of people were just flowing in for about half an hour, and then it became normal again. Then, at night, I woke up from a nap at around 6:00, and I heard fireworks starting, because it had only just gotten dark. Since then, all I have heard is fireworks, all night long. When I walked out on the street, I had one explode 5 or 10 feet from me, and I am sitting here at 10 PM, and the fireworks keep on going and going and going and going. I'm assuming I'll here some at mangala aroti.... This is definitely the place to be for firework lovers (yes nimai.....it really is). Alright, I will now go to sleep, as tommorrow is Govardhan pooja, and I will be going to Govardhan. Haribol.

Chaitanya

Some more items....

10/19/06
Well, believe it or not....I am going to add items to the list....as I promised. Of course if you reference to the earlier four items, they will be added when I said I would add them (The IST factor....), so here we go. Its hard to believe that after VIHE finished, I've barely had enough time to blink, so hopefully I get time to put this on line tomorrow.

• Stuff will just randomly not work....when you need it: This is an oldie but a goodie.... A long while back, I remember getting up for mangal aroti one morning, and the shower wasn't working. Now put yourself in my shoes...you have just gotten up at 3:45, all pumped to take a shower and go to mangal aroti, but the shower doesn't work. It only has happened once, but it was really annoying. I mean you can take the random power outages, power surges, low voltage, and even turning the water off during the day...but when the water doesn't work before mangal aroti, its a problem...
• Loudness: Many people in India do not know when it is necessary to be quiet. For example, I have been going on Indradyumna Mahraj's parikrama's for the past few days, and the group often stops for long talks. Some of these are outdoors, where the locals can mix. Its amazing that when 200 devotees are intently listening to a speaker, some random people can start having an argument right there, screaming at the top of their lungs. This wasn't just a one time thing, it really happens all the time. After a while you just get used to it, but its pretty funny at first.
• Fights: If there's ever a fight or confrontation on the street, everyone...I mean everyone will stop to watch. This also means that if you're driving by on a rickshaw, the rickshaw wall slow to slower than a snails pace... It doesn't matter what the argument is about, but somehow, in some way, two people yelling at each other is fascinating to some....

That's all for now....I believe I have 3 more left, so check back for those in another 2 or 3 months...haha....


Chaitanya

Amul: Until we meet again...

Dear readers,

A little update on what's going on: Chai and I have moved out of our room in the guesthouse, we gave the room to our very own Susan mataji from Towaco to use instead. We are now staying at Keshav Kunj by the mercy of HH Radha Govinda Maharaj, who kindly gave us a small room. I will be there until the 20th, and then i am leaving for Braj Mandal parikrama to join Rupanuga prabhu. Chaitanya will be at KB temple until the end of Kartik.
It is hard to write and check email from Keshav Kunj since it is pretty far from where i go to connect to the internet. I only have 2 more days left here, and then i wont be near a computer for another month. so i guess that's kind of..it.....
I would just like to tell you all that i am sorry i wont be able to converse thru emails so much now until i get back home, because after Vrindavan i will go to Ahmedabad for 3 days, then Chowpatty for 20 days. I will probably have limited internet access there as well.

ok well, if you want to contact me, your welcome to call, i have a new number you can get it from any one of my family members.

ill try to write, somehow.

Oh by the way, me and Chai graduated from VIHE! Woooo!!!!! we finished what we came here to do. It feels great..now i just have to glue my ears shut so the knowledge doesnt spill out!

alright, now its time to move to another paragraph in this chapter of my life.

miss you all, forgive me i wont be in so much contact.
amul butter

Amul: I love my friends

A bunch of guys and girls led by Damodar, from Towaco made a video for me and sent it with Damodar's parents. It feels pretty damn good to be remembered. This definately makes up for the small amount of emails i'm getting!

Oh yea, I almost forgot. we went to bathe @ Radhakund for Bahulastami, at midnight. It was complete chaos. They estimated there was like 25,000 people there. HH Indradyumna Swami and a bunch of other sannyasis, along with Aindra prabhu came. They rocked bhajans real hard in Ragunatha das goswami's samadhi. Then at midnight EVERYONE (and their freakin sister) took bath in Radha Kund. Its a sight i will never, ever forget. I haven't seen that many people since Polish woodstock! Then, on our way back to our transport back to KB temple, i see a few familiar faces. Banke Bihari prabhu and his wife (towaco), are hanging out and i talked to them. Also Sarbendu prabhu's parents and brother are here. Then, heres the kicker, i see Gadadhar Pandit prabhu from the Bhaktivedanta ashrama, NYC!!!! i did a double take of him, and went up to him and was like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!???" It was great, i cant believe i saw him amongst an ocean of people. What a night.

I just wanted to brag about how awesome my friends are.

later,

amul

Top Ten List....That's right..its being continued...

Haribol,

As you all know I started a glorious top ten list about my realizations about india something about 4 score and 7 years ago (maybe not that long...but it was pretty long). Anyway, I've decided to continue it....before you get all excited, I am going to repost the first edition (Yes...you can say it, I am reusing material...). But I promise that there will be at least 3 more items added to the list by midweek. Without Further Ado, here is that previous entry, untouched....

Top 10 List of Realizations About India

8/8/06

Being the extremely Bhakti Sastri student which I am, I have decided to write a blog about my top 10 realizations about India, instead of memorizing Bhagavad Gita verses (I will do that when I'm done). As many of you know, India is somewhat different from America, but by living here for about 6 weeks now, I have tested some views over time, and here they are. Now, as you look down at the list, you will notice that there is not 10 items there. Before you start questioning my ability to count to ten, or to count period, I will give you my reason for only giving you four reasons, not yet numbered. Reason number 1, nobody does a top 4 list, so that Idea was out, but the reason I'm sticking to is Reason number 2. Reason number 2 is that this way, I will not give away the whole thing at once, or the order, so there's some suspense ( In reality, I couldn't think of ten things, but I'll post them as I come up with them). Without further adu, imagine David Letterman is reading these, and here is my Top 10 List of Realizations of India.....Part 1:

 

 

 

 

• Time: A few years ago, we started coining the phrase IST, which stands for Indian Standard Time. Whenever we'd be late, or a program would start late, or someone else was late, it would just be Indian Standard time. Well, what I have now realized is that India is the birth place of Indian Standard time, so this is where it is personified in its most powerful form. Coincidentally, the time zone India is in has the initials IST...standing for Indian Standard Time. Anyways, everything is at least 5-10 minutes late here. If someone says they'll be there at 10, don't show up until 10:30 earliest, if you have to pick something up on Sunday, safer to go Thursday or Friday, so it'll be done. IST here in India is double or triple IST is in America.
• Left...Left...Left...or Right???: As you know, people in India drive on the left (a crazy and un-needed British Tradition if you ask me...also, sometimes you're not sure what side they're driving on here). But how about when you walk up to someone. Do you go towards the left or towards the right. In the west, its a common practice that you always go towards the right, so that neither person bumps into eachother. Here however, some people go to the left, and some people go towards the right. After awhile of almost bumping into people, you just decide to do your own thing and make everyone else conform with you (its been working for a little while...).
• Pushing and shoving: Indian people feel it is their absolute birthright to cut you in line. For example, yesterday I was waiting in line to swing the Jhulan in the temple. I clearly remember that I was in line behind this old dada, where a cream colored kurta. After looking around for about 5 seconds, I was now behind four ba's, one of them pushing me back, so she could squeeze her way into line. This is an example of a daily experience here. Now do you push the ba's...I mean come on, they're old people...I end up sucking it up most of the time.
• Power: Everyone knows this already, but I will reiterate it. India has still not figured out power. I guess it is a much harder thing to figure out that I thought. Just as I was writing this blog alone, the power went out 3 times. I'll give India this though...when the power goes out in America, its the end of the world (ref: NYC blackout). Here, everyone is ready for it. If you're in a shop, they'll whip out their kerosene lantern while they were showing you what you were looking at, with some sort of 3rd arm.

 

 

Well, that's it for now....stay tuned for more items soon.....

 

Chaitanya


Hope you enjoyed that blast from the past....stay tuned for more.....

Amul: Samadhi Ceremony of HH Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Swami Maharaj

Events of 10.3 - 10.5.06

man, what a past few days....

Let me start with last night. Maharaj's body was brought to KB mandir around 9 pm in an ambulence. The body was taken around KB mandir three times, and then was placed opposite Srila Prabhupada's samadhi so all the devotees could offer their respects and have darsan. It was so emotional. Many devotees were crying. Many senior sannyasi's arrived with the Maharaj's body. Also some sannyasi's i've never seen before.
After Darsan arati and Gurupuja (which was led by Guru Kripa Prabhu, yes, the Guru Kripa!) the next morning (yesterday), Sripad Maharaj's body was taken to Radha Kunda at around 8 am. Me, Chai, and Vishal didnt have a ride, so we got on a tempo. I grabbed the video camera and a change of clothes, and we left. It was an experience, it wasn't so crowded, but it was loud and slow. When we arrived in Radha Kunda, we went to Sripad Maharaj's temple (The local Iskcon temple), and Bhakti Charu Swami was singing "Je Anilo". This was taking place in the backyard of the temple, where Sripad Maharaj was to be put into samadhi. Bhakti Charu Swami added the line, "Kaha mora Svarupa Damodar...Patita Pavana". It was more emotional than the night before, many disciples from Manipur had come, they had traveled all night. It reminded me of the "final pastimes" video of Srila Prabhupada, when Narayana Maharaj sang "je anilo" for Srila Prabhupada. Everyone got a turn to offer Sripad Maharaj flowers, take darsan, and touch his wooden shoes.

Then it was time to take Maharaj for parikrama of Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda. That's when you could really tell how many devotees there were. I'm not good at estimations but i would say around 500+. While we were going around, i saw a familiar face - - Mahatma prabhu! I said 'haribol' to him but i don't think he recognized me, i would see him later anyways. I found out that he had flow in from San Diego as soon as he heard about his Gurumaharaj's

passing.

After the parikrama, it was time to place Maharaj's body in the grave(?) they had dug. They had a curtain around this, but I presume they bathed, applied tilak, and newly clothed Maharaj, and then brought him down into the grave. When they were bringing him down, everyone noticed how Maharaj looked as if he was just sleeping. It had been 3 days, but his body was still very flexible and his face was effulgent. I was very suprised. Bhakti Charu swami later mentioned thats a sign of a pure devotee, his body is not material anymore, but it becomes spiritual, even in this life. Srila Prabhupada was the same.

At this time, i had pushed my way inside crowed that had assembled around the grave. Took out our video camera and started shooting. I took a lot of still photographs with it as well, those are the ones im sharing with you all. Then they started to throw in the dirt that would fill the grave. But first they had to cover Maharaj's body in salt, then they started putting the dirt in. We got a chance to throw some dirt in too.

Then, it was time for prasadam. Rupanuga prabhu was in charge of the serve out to the general devotees, so he asked me to help. Even though i had not eaten the whole day, i thought it would be a great time to get some mercy. So I went to the kitchen, expecting to bring prasadam to the general devotees, but this prabhu asked me to bring rice where the senior devotees were eating. I didn't think much of it because i was just dropping it off, but when i got there, the prabhu in charge asked me if i wanted to serve the senior devotees! In my mind i was like "hell yea bro!", but really i said, "Oh, thank you for giving me this oppurtunity prabhu, sure i would love to." haha...I wonder when my mind and my words will express themselves in similar ways. My mind speaks new jersey slang and my speech is insincerely polite... So I helped serve different sannyasis, both from iskcon and gaudiya math, Prabhupada disciples, management, etc. It was amazing!

After i had taken paneer subji, rice, dal, chappatis, sweet rice, butter milk, and other preps, to my full satisfaction, i went back to the samadhi. I had remembered seeing Aindra prabhu and his crew arrive, so i wanted to see if they were still doing kirtan. They were, and i video taped a good portion of it.

We then took bath in Radha Kunda and left back to KB temple. This time we got lucky, and caught a ride with some devotees in a jeep.

These past few days have been very emotional, and very tense because we would get so many different types of news at different times. We didn't know what was going to happen when.

I have fond memories of Sripad Maharaj. He came to Spain for a week during the UK Pandava Sena trip. There he would hang out with us, even though he was a sannyasi and we were just some kids. I remember he did archery with us, and he was really good at it too. No one got the bullseye, but then Maharaj tried last, and he got it.

I also met him in Towaco a few months back when he came to visit. I talked to him with my parents right in front of the temple giftshop, i told him what i was doing in Vrindavan, and for his blessings. He was happy.

Maharaj was sweet, kind, intelligent, and a great singer. His kirtan style was different, but it was amazing.

Somehow a puffed-up kid like me was fortunate to be able to attend this wonderful ceremony, I pray that i never forget this.

dasdasanudasa bh. amul

HH BSDM Samadhi Update as of 15:00, October 3rd 2006

Haribol,

The news over here about the samadhi is changing every hour, its hard to get the exact info.

 

But as of right now, Maharaj's body is not going to be taken to Manipur, but is coming to Vrindavan around 8 pm tonight.  His body will be kept in the Prabhupada museum.  Then, tommorow morning he will be taken on parikrama, and then at 8:00 am, he will be put into samadhi at Radha Kund. 

 

a.s.

 

 

 

H.H. Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Swami

Radhe Radhe,

I'm sure you have all heard the news, about HH Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Maharaj's passing.

All of Vrindavan is in complete shock, the news came so quickly.

Maharaj's body is coming to Vrindavan, the day after tommorow, on his way to Radha Kund, from Calcutta. His samadhi will be in Radha Kund. Originally, his body was going to come straight to Vrindavan, but Manipur threatened violence if he doesnt come there. He has many many disciples in Manipur, and it wasnt possible for all of them to come to Radha Kund.

Many sannyasis from all over are planning to come to Radha Kund: BCS, GKG, etc.

We are planning to go, we will be taking video and pictures so we can share this historical event with everyone when we get back.

Maharaj just came to Towaco a few months ago for a presentation, I remember talking to him.

Vaisnava Thakur Ki Jay!

Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Maharaj Ki Jay!

amul

Amul: VIHE outing to BARSANA!

I made a friend!
Some Kunda where Madhumangal ate Laddus
Where Krishna took Tax

9/29/06

Today we went to Barsana with HG Janananda prabhu and HG Prabhupada das prabhu. Man, It was amazing. We did a parikrama of all the major temples (about 4 or 5, I forget their names, there were about 4 or 5. We also bathed in Prema Sarovara and had class there. I also had darsan of Ramesh Baba, the "don guru" of Varsana! That's just a rough description. Attached are some images, I have a million more but its so hard to post them up!

A scary/exciting thing happened when we got to the main temple. A little background info first: I was a little puffed-up because every temple we went, I was being all 'James Bond' about taking pictures, I would turn the flash off and use someone as a shield and take a

picture quickly, when it was strictly forbidden. I was successful throughout all the temples. So this time we were at the biggest and nicest temple, you know, the one really high up on that hill. This one was the mother of all of 'em. So, I got right up close to the deities and used Chai as a shield, but I forgot to turn off something very important: the flash. All the pujaris were doing their own thing, giving out Tulsi, Caranamrita, just really peaceful. When that flash went off, it was like that scene in "Lord of the Rings", where one of the Hobbit friends drops the skull in the dark well, and immedietly all hell breaks loose. All the Pujaris and caretakers of the dieties all looked up and started yelling. A few of the younger ones came over and grabbed me and my hands, and one of them went for my camera. I was suprisingly calm, but I was scared they were going to smash my digital camera. I had heard they do that. I thought fast and in broken Hindi, I told the guy I would delete the picture. He understood, and I quickly got on the camera menu and deleted the picture. Right before I deleted it I had a sneak peek of the image, it wasn't such a great picture, HA. They pujari told me in hindi, "didn't you see the sign, theres no picture taking!", and he pointed to two huge black signs on either side of the altar that said, "no picture taking". I smiled in my head, "I dont read Hindi bro." But then I realized, "Man, if they asked me why I didn't read the sign, they must think I'm from India...sweet!" For the first time, someone thought I was from India, and not Videsh. Then, they all left, and everything went back to normal. I stood there, stunned from what had just happened. I was a little proud that I got some attention, and a little scared that I had offended someone. Janananda prabhu came over to me to ask me if I was okay, and gave me an assuring pat on the back. I prayed to Srimati Radharani for forgiveness, and with a melodious harinam, we left.

As I sit in our room now, I ask myself, "Why did you take such a risk? Your camera could have been destroyed, or you could have gotten jumped." I reflected for a while and it hit me. I am into photography, I into taking risks, and I recently read a part in this book... its called "Vrindavan Days"... :

...If Vishakha can retrieve bananas from a monkey, she can certainly photograph the Radha Damodar Deities.

“If I try it, the pujari might react violently,” I tell Achyutananda. He agrees. Vishakha’s the one.

Her face set like a Mount Rushmore President, Vishakha, walks up the seven steps to the altar. There are no less than three sets of Deities in the dim alcoves: the Deities belonging to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s biographer, Krishnadas Kaviraj; expansions of Jiva Goswami’s original Radha Damodar Deities; and Jayadev Goswamis Deities. These Deities are guarded by strict smarta-brahmins, and photographs have never been allowed.

Before the pujari can protest, Vishakha takes five pictures. The lamp flashes like a strobe at the Avalon Ballroom.

"No photos! No photos! No! No! No!” the pujari shouts, waving his arms. The temple goswamis jump to their feet, but it’s too late. Vishakha is already walking out to the street.

“Good shots?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says, giving a tiny smile. That’s all. just a typical Vishakha-Yadubhara smile, lips closed.

-amul

Govardhana Parikrama

9/24/06

After being in Vrindavana for approximately 2 ¾ months, we finally went on Govardhana parikrama. The cool thing was that we were able to go with H.H. Mahanidi Swami. We went to Radha-Kund last night, and Mahraj gave a nice class, and we slept out on his veranda there. He is so nice and simple, that he was serving us Prasad last night. We woke up, and started parikrama just after 4 this morning, and started rolling. Mahraj walks faster than anyone I know…including my dad, so keeping up with him is quite a task. He stopped at a few places and gave nice talks about the different holy sites around Govardhan which was nice because the way he puts it was different from anything else you hear. Anyway, we finished in about 4.5 hours, and by the time he finished, more than ¾ of the group had tailed off. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to bathe in Radha Kunda, and then headed back to Vrindavan.

Chaitanya


By the way…I had my first monkey encounter today. At Radha-Kunda (where the monkeys are not supposed to be so bad…. By Gopal-Bhatta Goswami’s Samadhi or Bhajan Kutir (I can’t remember which) a monkey approached me slowly, and seeing that I didn’t have anything he would be interested in, decided my dhoti was good enough, and gave it two tugs (nothing happened though…). After that, he backed off, and I shooed him away….

Amul: PICS! VIHE outing to Goverdhan!

We went on an outing yesterday to Goverdhan with HG Janananda prabhu and the rest of the Nectar of Devotion crew, it was an amazing experience, enjoy the pics!

amul


HG Janananda prabhu and the rest of the gang relishing stories at Govinda Kund

Surabhi Kund

Giriraj Maharaj KI JAY! Ecstacy!

Scenic Harinam

Bhajans at Surabhi Kund

Someone tell that dude to put some pants on!

Tulsi arati in the middle of Goverdhan's forest, does it get any better?

Sadly, we had to leave!

Amul: Ujjain!

September 15th-19th

   

Friday, 11:00 PM

It felt weird to wear pants after two months of wearing dhotis every day.  Rupanuga prabhu, recommended I do so, because it would be more comfortable overnight.  As I put on the pants, I lamented that I would have to one day put on pants again and leave my dhotis and Vrindavan, for a long time.  I quickly stopped thinking of it.

   

    We were on our way to Ujjain, for H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami's vyasa puja.  Me, Chaitanya, Rupanuga, Dhanurdhar, Kuntibhoj, Somnath, and Bhaja Gauranga.  Although I am not a direct disciple, I consider him my siksa guru.  He is my parents' guru, and has known my family for many years.  I also thought it would be nice to go on behalf of them.

    I felt excited to leave Vrindavan for a few days, I wanted to experience something new, something different.  Routine had set in very firmly with class, prasadam, and other things, so to change that was intriguing. 

    I won't bore you with the whole travel description.  Yes, there were the funny garam chai wallas and lassi wallas.  And the train was really loud, and there were smells I've never smelled before.  It was comfortable though, we went to sleep and in the morning we were in Ujjain after a 9 1/2 hour ride. 

   

    Some devotees picked us up with 2 Qualis jeeps and brought us to the temple.  The temple is in the outskirts of Ujjain, in a quiet part of the city.  It is made completely out of beautiful white marble and three huge gopurams that you can see from far away.  Minor construction was still going on, but most of the temple was done.  We showered and headed down to the temple room.  A seminar was finishing up, and it was almost time for prasadam.  Prasadam!  That's one thing we were all looking forward to, the taste of prasadam from somewhere else.  But before prasadam I saw many friends, such as Sandipan Krishna prabhu, Dina Krishna prabhu, and Chiranjeev Krishna das, who we all remember as Babai.  I just noticed that all of those devotees I just mentioned are "______ Krishna das", haha. 

   

    Later that day there was talk with Maharaj with all the devotees in his quarters.  It was not a preaching talk, but more of a talk with people who have been in the movement for a while.  The topic was about the future of ISKCON.  Maharaj was telling us about one disciple he has who bought a big part of a lucrative company, and was employing other devotees.  Sandipan Krishna and Dina Krishna prabhus were a part of this.  Basically they were performing their job for Krishna and guru, and not only providing financial stability for ISKCON, but also preaching too.  It was very interesting, and Maharaj encouraged devotees to start doing this.  He also talked about how preaching is changing in ISKCON and there are so many innovative ways to preach these days.  He mentioned the youth of ISKCON too and during that part coincidently, he saw me.  He kind of stopped the class and asked when I had come, then he introduced me and Chaitanya as examples of youth and future of ISKCON , it was so embarrassing!

   

    The next day we attended the morning program (almost all of it ;) ) and there was a ceremony to install Srila Prabhupada on his new vyasasan that was huge, magnificent, gold and wood colored.  Oh man, I forgot to mention the deities!  They are so beautiful!  There is Gaura Nitai, Radha Madan-Mohan, and Krishna Balaram.  All the deities are very beatiful, but Srimati Radharani is extra nice, one of the most beautiful deities I have ever seen! 

   

    Maharaj gave class and in the class he mentioned to everyone why he was reluctant to have such a big festival for his vyasa puja because of the whole sannyasis falling down in the past from being worshipped too heavily. He was very sincere when he said this, and when I thought of it, it is indeed a very important point. 

    He also told us to never leave ISKCON because within ISKCON we are protected.  "And as soon as you leave ISKCON," Maharaj said, "your devotional life is in danger."  What a bold point! He didn't mean that whoever is not in ISKCON is devotionally weak, but he was saying that for people who are in ISKCON then leave to go somewhere else, they are putting their devotional life in jeopardy.  Maharaj was also telling the glories of Srila Prabhupada along with a few godbrothers, whos names I don't remember. 

   

    The temple bramhacharis of Ujjain are such nice, caring devotees.  One very touching story I want to share was when I went to the bramhachari ashram to take a nap.  I went to the second floor, where the bramhacharis stay, and laid down on the bear marble floor.  It was comfortable because it was cold, but I did not have a pillow, but I didn't really mind because it was just a nap.  I quickly fell asleep, but was awoken by a gentle bramhachari who was trying to put a pillow under my head and at the same time trying not to wake me up.  I saw his smiling face for a few seconds, until my eyes closed and I fell asleep again. 

   

    When I woke up a few hours later, I quickly remembered what the bramhachari had done for me.  Such a small act of kindness brought about so much emotion and realization in me.  That is what a real devotee is, so caring and eager to perform service for another.  Man, I wished I could be like that!  He didn't even know me, a puffed-up kid from America, and I didn't know him!  But I remembered his face.  I saw that devotee only once again, during prasadam time from afar, he was....serving. 

vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca
kripa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah
I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and they are full of compassion for the fallen souls.

   

    That night was the actual Vyasa Puja ceremony.  It was held in a huge hall in the guesthouse, that was still being built.  Maharaj sat on a large vyasasan decorated by flowers and accepted all the worship by his disciples with his head down and hands folded.  Devotees made lines to offer flowers to Maharaj, and Maharaj reciprocated by giving devotees garlands.  The atmosphere was very sweet.  It made me imagine what it might have been like during Srila Prabhupada's time, worshipping the guru with great opulence. 

   

    The next day, Monday, we went to go visit holy places in Ujjain.  Holy places? I never knew Ujjain had holy places.  We visited a few Lord Shiva Temples, the places where Krishna studied, a Nrsimhadev temple (awesome), a river where Lord Rama came, and a few ghats.  It was great!

   

    I forgot to mention the bhajans and kirtans.  They were so fired up! "There is no such thing as a mellow kirtan here" -Sandipan. He's right, everything is really heavy with wompers and loud speakers.  One time, after Maharaj led, he requested me to sing.  I did for a little while, it was nice to for Radha Madan-Mohan.  There were some nice kirtaniyas there, like Bhagavat Tattva from Mumbai and a few local devotees who could really rock it.

   

     Anyways, it was an amazing trip, I had a lot of fun.  Please, if you ever have a chance go to Ujjain, go.  You will have a wonderful time with some really advanced and downright cool devotees!  I'm back in Vrindavan now, with a month left of VIHE, miss you all.

 

A.S.

 

 

 

   

   

Amul: Special Sightings and Off to Ujjain!

    So me and Chai were waiting for the darsan doors to open for darsan arati, and 2 feet away from us this prabhu pays his obeisances.  As he gets up, I look at him, turn away, realize who it is, and look again ("double take").  It was none other than Sandipan Krishna prabhu himself, from good ol' UK bruv!  It was such a great suprise, we talked for a short time, he was in Delhi for business, and he decided to come to Vrindavan that morning.  Then he said he was leaving for Ujjain....

    Which brings me to my next point, we are going to Ujjain tommorow too!  For H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami's Vyasa Puja.  I can't wait to see Maharaj and a lot of familiar faces.  We are leaving tommorow (Fri.) and coming back Tuesday morning. 

    Anyways, everything over here is fine, guess who else is here too?  Rupanuga prabhu, a fellow Towaco-vasi!  He's staying with us for a few days, we are having a blast, he's like a hometown hero around here.  He practically owns the place.

    Classes are good, we had an NOD exam this week, and we also have a BG exam tommorow (7-12).  

I can't believe its the middle of September already....

 

miss you all,

amul

 

ps. why has everyone stopped emailing? Being too busy is a lie and a lame excuse. 

Amul: Sri Radha Kunda meditations

Radhe Syam!
We visited Radha Kunda today, fully clear of any controversy, and with faith in our bhakti sastri knowledge, we bathed. It was an experience i cannot really describe in words. I will leave you with this short meditation and pictures from the trip:

"O friend, please meditate on Radha kunda's flowering-vine pavilion, which is praised by Vrindavan's great splendor, which is respectfully worshiped by Lord Hari's favorite regal mountain, Sri Govardhana, which bows down, placing its peak on the ground before it, and which is filled with the beauty and sweetness of Radha kunda's extremely wonderful amorous pastimes."


Sri Radha Kunda


Myself and Greg, after bathing.


A wonderful painting, at the place where Mahaprabhu Himself bathed in Radha Kunda.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur's appearance day...

9/7/06
Haribol,
Yesterday was Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Appearance day, and Haridas Thakur's disappearance day. Here's one or two pictures to show what they did here. Also, today is a lunar eclipse, which in India is a very serious event. The temple will be closed for the entire afternoon and evening, but I think we still have class...haha...

Chaitanya

Radhastami.....

9/1/06

Haribol, here’s my update on Radhastami as of 5:29 PM on Radhastami day….I’ll most likely add a second installment tomorrow (these will probably be posted at the same time so you won’t even notice…)

You could say that Radhastami officially kicked off last night, as the anticipation for the next day was very high. The kirtan was really rocking, and you could really feel the excitement. Then came today….mangal aroti was very nice, and then came 7:30 darshan (it ended up being at 7:43…which some may consider early for IST…). First Gaur Nitai’s altar was opened, then Krishna Balaram, and then Radhe Shyam. I had moved over to Radhe-Shyam’s altar earlier (anticipating a huge rush…Radhe-Shyam are easily the most popular deities here on a day to day basis..what to speak of Radhastami), as soon as I took darshan of Krishna-Balaram. Unfortunately everyone else did not think this way. After the small deity of Prabhupada had moved in front of Radhe-Shyam’s altar, there was a longer wait than usual for the opening of the altar. Then when Aindra Prabhu’s head appeared from behind the curtain (he dressed, and was going to open the curtain), everyone started going crazy, but still they didn’t open it. After about a minute or so of frenzied anticipation, the curtain was opened. At the same moment, I felt the force of hundreds of people just rushing in the direction of the altar, and I was getting tossed about like a buoy in the turbulent ocean. Then after they started kirtan, the pushing and shoving only increased, until it reached a point where this one brahmacari was just pushing and shoving for the sake of pushing and shoving…it was really pretty intense.. After 15 or 20 minutes in the chaos, I decided to get out, and move to another part of the temple room.
The rest of the program was really sweet, and had a nice mood. The morning class given by both Radha Raman Mahraj, and Dhruva Mahraj Prabhu was really good, and lasted almost two hours, going straight into the abhisek kirtan (once again electric), which lasted straight to noon. It was really an extremely nice program, and I will try and post pictures.
The 4:45 darshan was once again really crowded (not nearly as extreme though…), and the deities are now wearing a beautiful new outfit which is purple and has grapes on it..check it out online, it is really beautiful. By the way, the decorations in the temple room surpassed any decorations for any festival here, the front section is covered by nets of flowers, and they spared no expense. This one’s for Damodar…they spent more than 2 lakh’s on flowers….I’ll update you on the night kirtan and the night darshan tomorrow. At 10 PM they have a special darshan of the deities, and you can also take darshan of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet (the only day of the year where this is possible). Back with more tomorrow….Radhe Radhe….



Second Installment -9/3/06
Night Darshan was really nice. Wasn’t super crowded, and the deities looked really beautiful. About an hour before the darshan, there was really sweet bhajans. Overall, Radhastami was probably the best festival since we’ve been here….That’s all for now…take a look at the pictures…. there is none from the night darshan...these are all from morning darshan....the afternoon dresswas really cool, so I recommend you go to ISKCON Vrindavan's darshan sight to check it out...

Chaitanya

Radhastami Run up....

8/31/06

Haribol, I know I have not written in a while, so to update everyone, I’m fine (No I’m not sick, as everyone seems to think…). Anyway, tomorrow is Radhastami here in Vrindavan. Talking to many locals, Janmastami here was considered, well, a flop… but from seeing the preparations ongoing for Radhastami, it will be quite an event. The decorations all arrived Tuesday, and Radhastami is Friday. Yesterday (Wednesday) they started decorating the temple room, and in the afternoon, tons of flowers showed up in the area across from Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi…..so, it should be quite an event. Yesterday (Wednesday) was also Lalita devi’s appearance day, which means that they offered the deities a beautiful new turquoise colored dress…it was very nice....I am going to leave you with a quote from chapter 1 of the Nectar of Devotion, when Srila Prabhupada is describing Srimati Radharani’s glories:

“Srila Rüpa Gosvämi has stated that devotional service attracts even Krishna. Krishna attracts everyone, but devotional service attracts Krishna. The symbol of devotional service in the highest degree is Rädhäräni. Krishna is called Madana-mohana, which means that He is so attractive that He can defeat the attraction of thousands of Cupids. But Rädhäräni is still more attractive, for She can even attract Krishna. Therefore devotees call Her Madana-mohana-mohiné—the attractor of the attractor of Cupid.
To perform devotional service means to follow in the footsteps of Rädhäräni, and devotees in Vrindävana put themselves under the care of Rädhäräni in order to achieve perfection in their devotional service. In other words, devotional service is not an activity of the material world; it is directly under the control of Rädhäräni. In Bhagavad-gitä it is confirmed that the mahätmäs, or great souls, are under the protection of daivi prakrti, the internal energy—Rädhäräni. So, being directly under the control of the internal potency of Krishna, devotional service attracts even Krishna Himself.”

Chaitanya

Amul: Realizations

August 27th, 2006, 11:54 AM Sunday

 

    It's hard to write something when theres nothing really exciting going on.  I've gotten into a routine, so things that might have seem exciting 2 months ago (man, its been that long!?) are just second nature now.  School is going well, I'm really learning alot.  Our teachers are stressing putting the knowledge into practice.  It's how much you apply that counts, not the degree you get at the end.  I find comfort in that statement since I am not the academic type...haha.

   

    Nectar of Instruction is such an amazing book.  I was always looking for a book that would tell me the do's & dont's, what to practice, what to avoid, in Krishna consciousness.  What made it better was our instructor, H.G. Kurma-Rupa prabhu, a old-school devotee from the historical New York ISKCON crew.  He really teaches from realization and tells us these awesome experiences he's had, that totally relate with the book.  I'm telling you, if you have the right teacher, everything becomes perfect.

 

    Yesterday was a whole ordeal.  My friend Satyanarayan's knee was injured when he accidentally walked into a ditch. I don't know, i think he just stepped on it the wrong way, but he was in so much pain.  The whole morning he was just writhing in pain whenever he moved his leg.  So we decided to get him to a doctor.  But how would we get him down the 4 flights of stairs, he could not even stand up on his own!  And I could not lift him, he's quite a husky fellow.  Chaitanya to the rescue!  Chai volunteered to take Satya on his back and bring him downstairs to the awaiting riksha.  Many people were astonished at the super-human strength of my roomate.  It was as if he had gotten the strength of 10,000 elephants (i wonder if it had anything to do with his Mahabharata reading...he reads it every chance he gets!). 

   

    After that, we went to 2 doctors, had 2 X-rays done, and still no results.  The 2nd X-ray said that Satyanarayan had a large fracture in his knee.  By this time, it was 7pm!  On top of that our riksa walla was so slow, he had only one working leg (here's a tip for everyone out there, make sure your riksa driver has TWO working legs).  And I had an exam the next day (today, it was a take home, and i hadn't finished it yet).  So I was in alittle bit of anxiety.  Update: Satyanarayan went to a doctor at 10pm last night, when Radha Govinda Maharaj, his guru, found out.  He's going to be okay.

   

    But then realizations cleared my anxiety.  Since everything was in Krsna's hands, what could I learn from this incident? (I have recently learned this technique, it really helps against getting fried easily).  I thought for a bit, and I realized a few things:

 

1) The body is a huge source of suffering, there's no question about it.  You may get some pleasure out of it, but it will never last.  Satyanaryan was in so much pain just because of his knee, i couldn't even look at his face sometimes.

2)  This world is a dangerous place.  You can just be walking and two seconds later, your knee is fractured.

3)  Taking shelter of the holyname can really help one's mind feel peaceful.  As soon as I started chanting on the riksa, with-- care and attention (NOI), I felt assurance that everything would be alright, it reminded me of a quote from Bhagavad Gita:

“For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda, or the giver of mukti, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s footprint. paraà padam, or the place where there are no material miseries, or Vaikuntha, is his goal, not the place where there is danger in every step of life.”  BG 2.51

 

Most of my realizations were based around those 3.  The material world is all suffering, the body is miserable...does that seem pessimistic to anyone?  Ah, but there is hope! The holyname is like a soothing balm (like tiger balm, that junk works so well ,on mosquito bites, thanks to Chai's mom, thanks Aunty!) on the worrying mind.  "Similarly, if you chant this Hare Krsna mantra, then your first vision of your self, your constitutional position, will be visible just like a line of the moon. But if you go on continuing, you will find one day it is [a] full moon and brilliant, very soothing, and nectarine. You’ll taste your life as very sublime, blissful, and hopeful."  -Srila Prabhupada

 

So much more but no time, I will write more later, until then..chant Hare Krsna!

   

dasamula

 

 

   

Janmastami

8/19/06

Haribol, so here’s my version of the Janmastami celebrations here in Vrindavan. The first crazy thing that happened was the greeting of the deities, which took place at about 7:30 in the morning. Then entire front of the temple room was jam packed, and the courtyard and the back were pretty full. If you haven’t been to a deity greeting at Krishna-Balaram Mandir, the way it usually works is they open one altar at a time, starting with Gaura Nitai, then Krishna Balaram, and finally Radhe Shyam. I happened to be standing by Gaura Nitai, and got the darshan immediately, as they opened the curtain. Then, when they started to prepare to open Krishna Balaram, the sea of people started moving, and I just kind of drifted over there. I had no choice really, and I got there darshan as well. Then this happened again for Radhe Shyam, but twice as much. So after deity greeting, I had moved all the way across the temple room, by just kind of floating in the sea of people. The rest of the day went nice as well. I had the good opportunity to sit right next to Aindra Prabhu for a good part of the 10:30 – 1:30 AM kirtan (he would of kept going, but the temple management politely told him that they had to clean up…..we have it on video tape…). The temple room was pretty packed, but in talking to people the next day, I heard normally that there are 2 or 3 times as many people (which is somewhat hard to imagine), but after they heard what happened in Manipur, they severely restricted the amount of people who could come in. After eating, I headed over to Bunkibihari with Daksh, Kushal, Daksh’s parents, and Sarva-Jay Gauranga for mangala aroti there. The streets weren’t as crazy as last time, but the temple room was just mad. I went in front, and we made a chain. Then I ploughed through the crowd, and we got right to the front again. It was really a pretting intense crowd, and it was cool that we got that close.

Prabhupada’s Vyasa puja the next day was pretty cool as well. It was nice to hear so many of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples glorify him, and at 1 PM there was a huge feast in a pandal which they had built in the parking lot just for the occasion.

Chaitanya

Amul: Janmastami & Prabhupada Vyasa Puja

Radhe Syam: in their midnight semi-flower dress!
The temple room was decorated with fresh flower decorations, it was beautiful and festive.
You can see me peeking my head out!
If you look closely, you can see Daksh, Kushal, Chai, and Radhey!

Radhe Radhe, Beloved Vaisnavas and Vaisnavis,

   

    Just got back from the maha feast after fasting till noon for Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja.  Boy, what a feast!  Janmastami last night was very nice too.  Many people, just dancing so crazily and ecstatically in the temple room.  Me, Daksh, Chai, Kushal, and Radhey got seats right next to Aindra prabhu's kirtan mandali.  We were really lucky, for 2 hours we just chanted there with Aindra prabhu and his crew!  Abhishek was going on at the time, then at 12 midnight there was the maha darsan. It was very beutiful, the deities were wearing a new beautiful dress and some flower ornaments, like a semi flower dress.  Gaura Nitai looked most beautiful to me, they reminded me so much of my Istadeva's back home at Towaco, even though they are non different (i am not advanced, i cannot see they are the same) HAHA!

   

    Janmastami during the day was basically a regular day, just more chanting (did 32 rounds, my friend Madhura Madhava did 108!, JAY HO!), and kirtan.  Most of us fasted from everything besides water, because if you dont drink water you wont be able to do anything, it was pretty hot yesterday.  Then at 6:30 pm, Aindra prabhu came down to do his kirtan.  After that, we all went to our room to hang for a while until we went down to the temple room to get seats for the maha kirtan, abhishek, and darsan.  It was really fun to be with Radhey, Daksh, and Kushal, it reminded me of P-sena: Empower! 

   

       After everything was finished, i went to sleep, i was so beat.  But the rest of the gang went to Banke Bihari's for mangala darsan.  Then this morning, at 7 there was gurupuja and class given by Srila Prabhupada.  Then Prabhupada's own disciples read their homages, which went on for 3 hours!  During most of this i was dreaming of eating, i was so dehydrated and hungry. 

   

    Then everyone made their way to the pandala for the maha feast.  As i entered, i saw all my VIHE buddies about to  serve prasad.  I could not sit down to eat while they were serving! But i was practically dying of starvation! The exemplary devotee Amul appeared on my shoulder and said, "Amul, devotional service prabhu!" then the sense gratifier Amul appeared on my other shoulder and said, "Amul your so hungry, who cares, think about yourself!  The exemplary devotee Amul won,

   

    It was weird though, my hunger for some reason, passed while i was serving the devotees.  Then when i was finished serving, one of my classmates mentioned that all of them had already eaten before hand! AHHHH!! My hunger magically appeared again and i quickly got a plate and sat down, and ate until it felt like rice and paneer were about to come out of my ears.  The sense gratifier Amul said, "told you so".  I told him shut it.

   

    Now here i am in the room, wondering how the Janmastami's in the US were!  Someone hollar back! 

Miss you all,

amul butter

 

ps. I am not schizophrenic, please dont go telling my mom i need to be admitted to the crazy house.

Amul: "Uncle Frank"

    Monday, August 14, 2006 12:27 pm

   

    I got a call yesterday from my parents that our dear next door neighbor in NJ, Frank Sapienza, had past away.  I was pretty distraught and then I remembered what I had learned from the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.  About the soul, and how it could not be killed.  Anyways, let me just give you alittle history about "Uncle Frank".

 

    "Uncle Frank", as he was affectionately known by my family, was an old Italian man who had lived in Paramus even before we had come there, around 18 years ago.  He was married to Adaleena (it was really Adeline, but my father pronounced it differently), his loving wife, who would always be seen with him. 

   

    Uncle Frank had a love for gardening and landscaping.  His lawn was by far, the best lawn in our neighborhood.  Whenever guests would come over, they would always remark how green his lawn was!  Also, every year his garden would yield bags and bags of tomatoes, green peppers, eggplants, etc.  He was truly a person in the mode of goodness.  You could always see him outside, sometimes with his cowboy hat, working away in his garden or on his lawn.  I used to watch him out of our kitchen window, admiring his hard working spirit.  And whenever my father had a question about something to do with landscaping or home improvement, the first person he would go to was Uncle Frank.  He would never hesitate to help.

 

    Uncle Frank was a very pious person as well.  During the summer, almost every evening, you could find him reading the bible on his front porch with his wife.  You could tell he had a taste for reading about Jesus Christ, whom he probably had a deep relationship with.  Every Sunday, without fail, he and his wife would go to church too. I remember them being dressed up and leaving around 10 am for their Sunday services. 

 

    Uncle Frank also got some chance to do service for Krishna as well.  During Bhakti Charu Swami's taping of Abhay Charan in New Jersey, some shots were taken on Uncle Frank's amazing front yard.  Bhakti Charu Swami was so impressed by the lawn and neat landscaping, he decided it was a great place to shoot.  We were allowed to tape right on Uncle Frank's front lawn! 

    Another service He rendered was to our deities at home.  Uncle Frank would grow tomatoes but he wouldn't like the greenish un-ripe ones.  So he offered that we could take them if we wanted.  I have fond memories of my childhood going to Uncle Frank's garden with my father, and picking all the green tomatoes.  Then my mother would cook subji with them when they ripened, and offer it to the deities.  Indirectly, Uncle Frank was performing the service to Krishna!  Devotional service, nonetheless.

       

    Uncle Frank was a dear Grandfather figure to me.  He was pious, hardworking, and always willing to help.  I remember his sweet Italian accent and how neat his garage was.  When I was younger, he would even put air in my bike tires when I needed it.  I will miss him.

Balaram Jayanti Kirtan video

Haribol...another small clip from Balaram Jayanti...enjoy
COMMENTS NOW WORK!!!!! So comment away.....

Balaram Jayanti in Vrindavan

Haribol Everyone. Here's a funny clip from the kirtan during Balaram Jayanti. This guy is hilarious. We've also been aware of the comment problem, so keep trying to comment, and I'm working on that. Have a great Janmastami.

Chaitanya